Page 68 of Countdown

Against her better judgment, she picked up the Styrofoam cup that probably had held ice but was just water now and held it to Felix’s dry lips.

He sucked on the straw and swallowed three times before pulling away and nodding. “Thanks,” he croaked.

“I was one of the paramedics on the scene.” She kept her voice neutral, devoid of the emotions she was doing her best to suppress. “How are you feeling?”

A tear leaked out of his left eye and he drew in a shuddering breath. “I don’t think I have the words for that.”

“Yeah. I imagine not. You’re incredibly fortunate no one died because of you. At least you won’t be looking at manslaughter charges.”

He flinched and blinked. Then shuddered. “Yes, at least there’s that.” His low voice held shame, grief, and disbelief that he’d found himself in this situation. “At least there’s that.”

She pulled the picture from her pocket and slipped it into his free hand. “I thought you might want that.”

He lifted it to stare at it while more tears flowed soundlessly down. His hand shook. Withdrawals?

“She would be furious with me,” he whispered.

Raina raised a brow. “Would be?”

“She’s dead. Six months ago. Her and our son. Killed by a drunk driver.” He scoffed and looked away from the picture while Raina stood frozen solid in utter shock.

What did she say to that? How did she respond? She finally found her voice. “And yet you go and—”

“I know.” He ran a hand over his face. “I had no intention of driving, but when my sister called—”

The door opened and a young woman in her midthirties stepped inside, stopping when she saw Raina. “Oh, I didn’t realize you had company.”

Raina needed to escape. To breathe. To think. “I was just leaving.”

“Are you a friend of Felix’s?”

“I was part of the rescue team.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Okay. And you’re here because?”

“There was a picture in the car he wrecked and I wanted to return it.”

“Liv,” Felix said, “how’s Hannah?”

“She doesn’t need the ventilator.”

The breath whooshed from the man in the bed and Raina frowned. “Ventilator?”

“Hannah’s his daughter,” Liv said. “She was having trouble breathing so I brought her in. She’s been diagnosed with pneumonia. Since she’s asthmatic, they’re watching her carefully. On Monday afternoon, they were discussing putting her on a ventilator. At that point, I called Felix.”

“And that’s when he climbed in the car after having too much to drink,” Raina said.

“Apparently.” She pursed her lips and shook her head. “I didn’t know where he was or I never would have called him.”

Raina cleared her throat. “I ... uh ... need to leave. I hope ... Hannah gets better soon.”

“Thank you for bringing me the picture,” Felix said.

“Yeah. Sure.” Raina practically ran out of the room, stopping only when she was inside the nearest bathroom. After splashing water on her face and drying it, she pulled in a ragged breath and blew it out slowly. “Unbelievable,” she whispered. “Absolutely unbelie—”

A knock on the door echoed around her. “Raina?”

“I’m okay, Lenny. I’ll be out in a minute.” She looked at herself in the mirror and refused to talk to her reflection. Taking two more minutes to try and sort through her emotions and finding it impossible, she turned and strode to the door, opened it, and found Lenny waiting. “You don’t have to babysit me.”

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